Android 4.1 Now Rolling Out To Canadian Galaxy S III Smartphones

Android 4.1 Jelly Bean is the new kid in the Android town, although Android 4.2 (also Jelly Bean) is officially the latest version of Android. But manufacturers have been hurrying to get the update running on their latest flagships like Samsung and HTC did with the Galaxy S III and the One X respectively. While most of the Galaxy S III handsets around the world have already received the Android 4.1 update, Canadian users were made to wait. But the wait is finally over now with the update finally going live today i.e. December 3. Some users in fact have reportedly received the update earlier than scheduled, which is always good news. The update seems to be pretty bulky at 318MB, but that’s nothing when we consider the fact that it brings so much to the table, especially Google Now. Performance is also substantially improved thanks to the increase in the overall bump in frame rate and “Project Butter”.

Canadian carriers like TELUS, Rogers, Bell and Virgin all have the Galaxy S III under their belts and users should receive the update notification by now. If you don’t receive a notification, you can always manually get the update via Samsung Kies. It is commendable how Samsung has completed the roll out process to the entirety of its Galaxy S III lineup almost all over the world. Samsung has kept its promise of rolling out the update to Galaxy S III smartphones by this week to Canadian customers. Users of the aforementioned carriers are reporting to have received the update notification, which means the schedule is pretty much complete now.

It is now expected that OEMs start working on Android 4.2 for their respective devices as it has quickly become the latest version of Android replacing 4.1 within a span of just three months. This is very reminiscent of what we used to see in the pre 2010 Android era where OS updates were rolled out frequently which inevitably led to fragmentation. Things are slightly different now though, and Android 4.2 isn’t a major bump from 4.1 as it is being pegged as a “dot” update. Let’s wait and watch how Samsung supports its other flagship smartphones.